South Asia

"Perhaps the best way to suppress the insurgency is to stop creating new victims, stop colonizing the nation, stop occupying the nation, stop bombing altogether."

"The present stark turn of events that now have Republicans and others on the defense rather than the offense to which they are accustomed, is creating absolute glee in many circles, and not only among gloating Democrats. Perhaps in response to the strong smell of Bush administration political blood in the waters, the BBC of London has presented a nail for the neo-conservative, and Christian evangelical coffin, while their real target is Bush."

"Harriet Miers was a perfect attorney for the president who combines audacity with mendacity as a personal trademark. Will a grand jury remove Bush from power before the Miers is set into that court? How many Democrats and Republicans will continue to support this program? The entire world outside the U.S. border recognizes this situation, but the Fox News team somehow missed it and will defend mendacious audacity as long as Bill O'Reilly can obtain an audience of dumbed down true believers who would make Eric Hoffer proud of his analysis and George Orwell sick with realization that his worst fears came true."

"Many Americans feel that their federal elected representatives are not heeding citizens’ views. Asked how much influence the views of the majority of Americans have on the decisions of elected officials in Washington, on a scale of 0 to 10 (0 meaning not at all influential and 10 meaning extremely influential), the mean response was 4.5. When asked how much influence the views of the majority of Americans should have on the decisions of elected officials in Washington, on a scale of 0 to 10, the mean response was 8.0. When asked what percentage of the time Congress makes decisions that are the same as the decisions the majority of Americans would make, the mean answer was 39%—less than chance."

"They understand how to steal a sign and how to cork the bat and juice the ball and do anything and everything it takes to win."

"Miller continues to assert that she isn’t “covering for anybody”. Technically, that’s not a lie. Because Judith Miller is “covering for everybody” involved in a very elaborate campaign of deception engineered by a consortium of government and mass media operators. Incidentally, Federal law specifically prohibits intelligence operatives from waging a propaganda campaign against American citizens."

"Being sucked up into Bush's reality is like stepping out of the shower, soap in your eyes and, as you fumble for a towel, the phone jangles. Someone rings the front doorbell while simultaneously beating on the door -- someone else is pounding on the back door, shouting incoherently. It is the witching hour and you are home alone. The dog is barking wildly, the cat is yowling while scratching frantically on the screen. In a panic, you race to the window, and fall back in shock. The entire landscape is exploding in a massive fireworks display. You can see shadowy figures moving furtively across your lawn, and you wonder briefly what they are doing, but they disappear into the flashing lights and noise."

"The lesson from Iraq is clear: the United States' staying power is waning, and the commitment to setting in place the fundamental building blocks of democracy is weak. For Syrians who hate their regime, for Egyptians who consider how to proceed in loosening their president's tight grip on power, there is a warning in the air. When the going gets tough, the Americans will waver."